The Loma Prietan
July/August 2002
Coastside Journal
by Cordell Koland
My wife Ellen and I moved to Half Moon Bay in November 1999. We had been living in Mountain View for about eight years and with both kids in college, it was time for the big move. We were regular coastal visitors, enjoying the fresh air and natural environment.
We gave little attention to what our lives would be like after the move to the San Mateo Coastside. We had vague thoughts of quiet, contemplative lives communing with nature and anticipating important life events, such as our children graduating from college. There's no doubt that the move to the coast fulfilled all of our expectations and more... Living only a few hundred yards from the beach is an exhilarating experience. You become so in tune with the various shifts in the weather, which seem magnified so close to the ocean. Even though we still have demanding jobs, we resonate to the daily and seasonal rhythms as we never have before.
What we hadn't counted on was the intense political battles to preserve the coastal environment, or the quality of the friendships that would result from participating in these events. It is amazing just how many issues brewing on the coast are related to growth and development—issues involving the expansion of the water system, the development of Wavecrest, the location of a new middle school, revisions to Highway 92. And this list goes on.
We have developed tremendous respect for the conservation-minded community leaders who volunteer hundreds of hours each year to ensure that environmental issues are given a hearing.
At times the involvement is grueling, but an experience such as the one I had this morning makes it all worthwhile. As I was walking our dog along the bluff top overlooking the beach, I saw a pair of northern harriers in an acrobatic display of hunting skills—swooping, turning and diving only a few feet above the ground. Then a few minutes later I saw the pair heading my way, one of the birds grasping a large snake in its talons. The raptor sighting lifted my spirits and caused me again to understand what life on the coast is all about and why it is worth preserving.